Football

Gornal could get relegation reprieve

l Gornal Athletic could still avoid relegation from the Midland Alliance despite finishing in the drop zone after losing to Heath Hayes last Saturday.They now need to wait until other leagues have completed their season before they will learn their fate.P

GORNAL Athletic now face an anxious wait to discover their Midland Alliance fate after failing to avoid a bottom three finish.

The Peacocks ended their disappointing season in the relegation zone after losing their crucial survival showdown against Heath Hayes at Garden Walk last Saturday.

Adam Green opened the scoring on 27 minutes for the visitors after a corner was only half cleared.

A decisive moment in the game came when Heath Hayes then doubled their lead on 62 minutes through Adam Langley.

Dennis Bate did get one back for Gornal but Hayes held on for the important three points. Athletic's task was made even harder by the dismissal of both Dreniz Bala and Ross Love during the game.

However, Gornal could yet get a relegation reprieve and be playing their football in the Midland Alliance next season. Only when other leagues around them have completed their fixtures and plans are made by other teams for the 2014/15 campaign will Athletic learn their fate.

Another team dropping out or applying to play in different league could all open the door to them avoiding the drop.

Either way, boss Andy Wyton has promised big changes at Garden Walk.

He said: "We didn't turn up on Saturday and then suffered more ill discipline, which has been a feature since I took over. I expect better and now we face a wait to find out if we will go down.

"There will be a lot of changes next season regardless of what division we are in. If possible I want to get better players in and put my own stamp on the team.

"Our form since I took charge would put us around seventh for the whole season. That means we have something to build on if we are in this league and gives us a good chance of challenging for promotion should we go down.

"I now want to get the team playing better football by getting the ball down and using pace out wide. So far we've had to play a different style that what I would have liked because of the situation we were in."